Milton Dambusters’ Evelyn Smith, 7, competed in the mixed 50 meter freestyle Saturday during the 2017 Summer Swimming Provincials that were held in Windsor.

Looking confident in his technique, Chris Heisler, 14, came up for air and stayed focused as he competed in the 100 breaststroke.

Coming up for a quick breath of air, 15-year-old Jacob Young stayed focused and paced himself during the 100 meter breaststroke.

Hundreds of competitors from ages five to 18 took part in the 2017 Nova Scotia Summer Swim Provincials in Windsor, N.S.

Louis Smith, 11, participated in the 100 IM, 25 feet of each stroke,

Both swimming for the Milton Dambusters, Ben Orne, 11, and Jacob Conrad, 12, competed in consecutive lanes in the mixed 50 meter freestyle. Despite Conrad being the first in the water, it was Orne who finished first of the two.

War paint on and ready for anything, 8-year-old Annie Whiston, with the Kentville Marlins, made her turn at the 25 meter mark and bolted for the finish line.

Swimming with the Milton Dambusters in the 2017 Summer Swimming Provincials, 13-year-old Georgia Williams powered through her heat trying to beat the others and improve her seed time of 2:05:56 for the 100 meter breaststroke.

Competing in the same heat, Kentville Marlins’ Haley Cross, 16, and Windsor Bluefins’ Isabelle Lebrasseur, 15, showed unwavering determination during the 100 meter breaststroke. Of the two in this heat, Lebrasseur had a faster seed time and finished before Cross.

Intently watching the heat before her, Milton Dambusters’ Norah Oickle, 9, got ready to step up on the diving board in the 25 meter freestyle.

Enthusiastic and bombastic coaches cheer on their swimmers during the 2017 Nova Scotia Summer Swim Provincials in Windsor, N.S. on Aug. 20, 2017.

Emma Jane Hockley, 14, glided through the water as she competed with the Kentville Marlins against teams from around the province.

Swimmers and volunteers tried to keep warm as they prepared to hit the lanes next. Despite the weather, competitors transitioned smoothly and quickly through the events.

Tents were set-up all around the pool area to give teams some shelter as they awaited their turn in the pool. With the rain coming down, spirits were still high as one well prepared woman danced her way through the crowd.

Umbrellas and raincoats filled the stands as family and friends cheered on competitors in the rain Saturday at the 2017 Summer Swimming Provincials in Windsor.

The provincial All-Star team, made up of competitors from all over the province, pose for a photo during the final medal ceremony of the tournament.

The team with the most points at the end? The Bridgewater Barracudas, who dominated in many of the categories throughout the tournament.

WINDSOR, N.S. – The 2017 Nova Scotia Summer Swim Provincials in Windsor, N.S. showed that competitors could also work together.

Both the Windsor Bluefins and the Cole Harbour Hurricanes, hosted the tournament and shared organizing duties for the event held from Aug. 18 – 20, at the Hants Aquatic Centre.

Many provincial records were broken, with new ones set, and a diverse team of all stars was selected at the final medal ceremony.

15 teams from across the province participated, some smaller, some larger. In all, approximately 500 swimmers ranging in age from five to 18, along with their families, descended on Windsor to show off their best.

The only thing that didn’t cooperate was the weather, drenching the tournament on Aug. 19 with consistent rainfall. But the participants didn't let it dampen their spirits.

Many volunteers, parents and onlookers were wearing rubber boots to avoid mud on the drenched fields surrounding the aquatic centre.

But spectators were begging for relief from the hot sun on the final day of the tournament, as it baked the soggy grounds all morning and afternoon with temperatures reaching into the 30’s.

The Middleton Missiles, unable to send coaches to the provincials themselves, relied on their Kentville Marlin counterparts to coach the athletes that were there – another sign of camaraderie.

Accommodations were fully booked in town, as some visitors took to camping in tents for the tournament.

This is the first time the event has been held in Windsor since 2009, when a hurricane disrupted a portion of the proceedings.

Coaches and officials watch on as swimmers from across the province perform the backstroke at the Hants Aquatic Centre.

Growth year

Hayden Adams, head coach of the Windsor Bluefins, with a booming voice as he yelled ‘go, go, go,’ to his athletes, said he was really proud of Louis Smith’s performance, who was able to take several seconds off of his original time.

“It’s a pretty long race and it’s his first year, so it’s a tougher race,” Adams said. “He was going into that with 229.82 and he just took off about 13 seconds, 216.31. That was only two weeks ago, so we’re super pumped for him.”

He said overall it was a big year for the Windsor club.

“In 2017 we’re up to 24 members, and I think this has been a really good building year, eight more members than last year,” he said. “We had two members selected for the All-Star team and a fair number of medals, a lot of improvement.”

Adams also won the Spirit of Swimming Award, given to him by his fellow coaches.

Jessica Bent, the assistant coach of the Bluefins agreed.

“We’ve seen a lot of personal development and maturity from the swimmers as well,” Bent said. “There’s no one that didn’t have a best time.”

Nicole Hutchinson, coach with the Bridgetown Seakings jokingly said they managed to survive the downpour on Aug. 19 and were enjoying the sunshine on Aug. 20.

“I’m really impressed with our athletes, they all got their best times,” Hutchinson said. “We’re a small team, seven or eight kids here all weekend but they did really well and all had fun. That’s all that matters.”

Corbin Beviss, 17, with the Seakings took home three medals, two in front crawl and one in butterfly.

Ethan Payne, Kentville Marlins head coach could be seen enthusiastically running up and down the edge of the pool – he worked with both the Kentville and Middleton athletes.

“The Middleton team contacted us and said they didn’t have any coaches coming to provincials and wondered if we could sort of join forces for the weekend,” Payne said. “So they’re staying in our tent and we’re helping them out with their swims.”

Combined the Kentville Marlins and the Middleton Missiles make up approximately 25 swimmers.

Payne said it wasn’t too big of a challenge to coach both teams.

“Provincials have been really great, we’ve seen lots of best times,” he said. “Windsor has done a great job hosting. Thanks to all of the volunteers its been great.”

Robin Domingo, 12, with the Kentville Marlins set a provincial record in 50-metre butterfly stroke. He also picked up three gold and two silver medals during the provincials.

The audience at the provincial swim meet probably wouldn’t have minded a bit of rain, with the 30-plus degree sun beating down during the final day.

Organizers happy with tournament

Michelle Bregante, one of the organizers of the provincial tournament with the Windsor Bluefins Club said she received a lot of positive feedback from the other clubs.

“Nobody (else) stepped up to host provincials this year, it’s been on the shoulders on a lot of the larger teams in recent years,” Bregante said. “This is a way for us and Cole Harbour to put our brands out there to increase our numbers a bit as well.”

Most of the swimmers train hard and compete in regional tournaments over the relatively short summer season for eight weeks leading up to the provincials.

“Most kids tend to gravitate towards this because they just love the water, they love swimming,” she said. “It’s an all-body exercise. The popularity of the sport during the Olympics has also helped shine some limelight on swimming as well.”

Full Results

Overall TopTeam winner was the Bridgewater Barracudas (BWB) overall Top SmallTeam winner was the Cole Harbour Hurricanes (CHH) and the Most Improved Team was the Canada Games Centre Clippers.